Screenwriters Beware of this indie director

Be cautious if you are approached by David Yuukon, indie director/actor. I'm telling you screenwriters this to protect all the hardworking screenwriters out there and save them time. This person will start out acting like he agrees to your pricing terms for a script rewrite. Initially, he won't object when you give him the pricing terms. He'll play along as if he can afford to pay you to clean up someone else's script. From there, he'll insist on having a meeting to talk about the script's story problems, expecting to get free creative input on the script. Later on, he'll come up with a bogus excuse, claiming that he did not have time to tell you that he --doesn't have money to pay-- you. Yet he'll demand that you work for him for free. He wants to have an experienced writer clean up someone else's script, which he optioned for $1, yet he expects the experienced writer to work for free. Experienced writers don't work for free. If a director wants you to put in 2-3 months of your life to clean up another writer's poorly written script either for free or even as deferred pay (which according to literary managers' advice, you'll never see the money), run the other way. Even workers at fastfood restaurant chains get paid for their time, doing brainless work, so you writers out their shouldn't have to lower yourself to work for free. Slavery ended many years ago.
 
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Be cautious if you are approached by David Yuukon, indie director/actor. I'm telling you screenwriters this to protect all the hardworking screenwriters out there and save them time. This person will start out acting like he agrees to your pricing terms for a script rewrite. Initially, he won't object when you give him the pricing terms. He'll play along as if he can afford to pay you to clean up someone else's script. From there, he'll insist on having a meeting to talk about the script's story problems, expecting to get free creative input on the script. Later on, he'll come up with a bogus excuse, claiming that he did not have time to tell you that he --doesn't have money to pay-- you. Yet he'll demand that you work for him for free. He wants to have an experienced writer clean up someone else's script, which he optioned for $1, yet he expects the experienced writer to work for free. Experienced writers don't work for free. If a director wants you to put in 2-3 months of your life to clean up another writer's poorly written script either for free or even as deferred pay (which according to literary managers' advice, you'll never see the money), run the other way. Even workers at fastfood restaurant chains get paid for their time, doing brainless work, so you writers out their shouldn't have to lower yourself to work for free. Slavery ended many years ago.
Welcome to indietalk, filmbiz.

Seems as if you had a rather typical experience common with independent
productions. If a writer doesn't want to work for free there is nothing
demanding they do so. Walk away. I agree with you; experienced writers
shouldn't work for free, deferred pay means you will never see any money
and a producer who offers a $1 option will likely never make the movie.

I don't believe this is restricted to Mr. Yukon. Most “indie” filmmakers are
working with no money and want people to believe in them and their project
enough to work for the hope and dream of success and money. Many writers
work for free – since that work is done with the full understanding that there
will be no pay I don't think that rises to slavery.

Your general warning is appreciated. All writers need to be aware that they
will be asked to work for no pay. Even experienced ones. We all need to weigh
the pros and cons and make a personal decision.
 
First of all, I don't think it's a good idea to mention anybody's actual name while airing your dirty laundry online. Besides the fact that this individual probably is unaware of this post and is therefore unable to defend themselves, I think it's also the case that you naming them in such a public forum could come back to bite you in the butt.

Most “indie” filmmakers are
working with no money and want people to believe in them and their project
enough to work for the hope and dream of success and money. Many writers
work for free – since that work is done with the full understanding that there
will be no pay I don't think that rises to slavery.

Very true. I think most people should be told, up-front, that "deferred pay" basically means "volunteer". In all likelihood, you ain't gonna get paid.

I'm one of the "indie" filmmakers directorik just mentioned. I'm actively recruiting people, both online and in real life to essentially take deferred pay for my next project. My financial model is very different from traditional deferred pay, as it'd be more accurate to call it profit-sharing, but it's still true that almost nobody is going to be paid up-front.

I'm currently recruiting an up-and-comer sound mixer. I haven't even given him my sales-pitch yet, but I've already made it clear to him that although I believe I have reasons to feel optimistic about this project, the overwhelming majority of movies made by people like me do not turn a profit.

To me, that's just good ethics, and I'd like to encourage other tiny-budget filmmakers to take a similar approach. Be honest with people. From the way the OP describes his situation, it sounds like the filmmaker in question was more concerned with turning a profit than treating people fairly. Let's not be that guy.
 
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